Election reflections

fosters.com

Writer

Posted Nov. 15, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Posted Nov. 15, 2012 at 3:15 AM

With the 2012 presidential thankfully behind us, the incessant TV ads, robot calls and mailings a fading memory, and most of the political dust settling, this is an opportunity to take a look back over the past few hectic weeks. For anyone who somehow missed the statewide election results, the winners (but not the votes, so far) are posted on the Secretary of State’s site: www.sos.nh.gov.

We must start out by noting that, however annoying saturation advertising is, it certainly plays its part in getting out the voters… in Rochester, thanks in part to rolls recently purged of deadwood, the turnout averaged almost 80 percent, and this commendable showing was pretty much reflected across the region.

Some folks who turned up at the polls may have been surprised to find their names missing, but it is worth remembering that if you haven’t voted in a while — say since the presidential election of 2008 — the chances were that you were among the purged and had to stand in line to re-register. Farmington was a case in point, where the polls that normally close at 7 p.m. were still open at 8:30 p.m. to allow election workers to process a record long queue of unregistered voters. Kudos to the hard-working clerks and moderators everywhere, and also to the voters — especially those who got involved for the first time.

We must also comment very favorably on the political campaign volunteers standing outside the polling stations, for, despite some bitter exchanges of rhetoric at national level, we observed harmony and a respect for the democratic process among those people holding signs for this candidate or that as we visited the Rochester polling stations. Outside the Ward 4 polling station, for example, former City Councilor Lucien Levesque and City Councilor Dave Walker stood cordially side by side, one with a sign urging the police commission be retained, the other asserting it should be abolished.

With that issue firmly decided by the voters (in favor of retention), the prompt and emphatic statement from Deputy Mayor Ray Varney that the police commission issue will not be on ballot any time soon (unless there’s an egregious act) is welcome.

We were less comfortable with Mayor TJ Jean using his official title in the days before the election to endorse Senate District 6 Democratic candidate Rich Leonard. The office of mayor, in this city, has been non-partisan for many years, and to use the title to add weight to a political endorsement doesn’t sit quite right.

As regards the results, Democrats can celebrate picking up another few seats in the city at the expense of incumbent state representatives Sue DeLemus, Fred Leonard and Cliff Newton. As it transpires, the blistering attack that knocked moderate Republican Julie Brown out of the race at the primary stage was all for nought. On the other side of the fence, Republicans are surely taking solace from Democratic State Representative Sandra Keans’ defeat in Ward 2.

Back at the thank you list, we must express our appreciation to Acting City Clerk Kelly Walters who provided early (provisional) election results from all six wards during both the primary and at the general election. In the past, while many other towns and cities announced their results within an hour after the polls closed, there have been instances when some results were still lacking in the Lilac City by 10 or even 11 p.m.

We do wonder what voters think of the polling stations in 2012, as one or two seem to change, through no fault of the city, every election cycle. Compared to some states, though, where voters had to line up in the open for many hours — an outrage in an industrialized democracy — Rochester voters, once the polls opened, had access to shelter. Any waiting was at least partly due to a failure to register ahead of time.

Will the results from Nov. 6 change anything at state level? That will take at least a few months of Congressional sessions in Concord for any change in direction to become discernible, but we assume that most Democrats will exercise the fiscal prudence that was rather lacking the last time the pendulum swung against them.

Finally, at local level, as our Page 1 story indicates, Rochester 9-12 founder Jerry DeLemus, showing no signs of battle fatigue, was as feisty as ever when attacking the Granite State Future project at a recent Strafford Regional Planning Commission meeting.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. (The more things change, the more they stay the same.